Michael Moloney Named American Institute of Physics CEO

The American Institute of Physics (AIP) announced the hiring of a new CEO today. Experimental physicist Michael H. Moloney was selected by an AIP executive search committee and unanimously approved by AIP's board of directors. He will assume the role 5 March 2018.

Moloney holds a doctorate in experimental physics from the University of Dublin, Trinity College in Ireland, and he becomes the ninth executive to lead AIP. He previously held the position of Director for Space and Aeronautics at the Space Studies Board and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Formed 87 years ago, AIP is a nonprofit federation with 10 member societies that collectively represent more than 120,000 scientists, engineers, educators and students around the world. AIP offers programs, products and services for this community and seeks to advance, promote and serve the physical sciences for the benefit of humanity.

AIP owns the top magazine in the field, Physics Today; houses the world-class Niels Bohr Library and Archives; manages the Society of Physics Students and Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society; produces original statistical research on educational and workforce issues; brings science news to the public; disseminates analysis on developments in science policy; and serves the physical sciences community through grants, fellowships, advocacy and awards programs. AIP Publishing, its wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary, produces a number of the world's top journals in the physical sciences.

"I know I speak on behalf of the entire AIP board of directors when I say that we are delighted to welcome Dr. Moloney as our new CEO," said John Regazzi, chairman of the AIP board of directors. "His years at the National Academies and his policy and media experience distinguish him as a strategic leader who knows how to foster the translation of fundamental scientific knowledge into practical programs that create value in our community and benefit everyone."

The Aeronautics and Space Engineering and Space Studies boards Moloney has led for the last eight years are among the largest units at the National Academies. The Space Studies Board, which turns 60 this year, and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, which turned 50 in 2017, have been deeply entwined with NASA and the US space program since the beginning. They have played and continue to play a crucial role in formulating US policy and developing space and aeronautics research priorities at NASA, NSF, NOAA and other federal agencies.

These boards facilitate gatherings of top experts on specific subjects who deliberate on important questions and produce comprehensive reports that help steer decision-making in Congress, at federal agencies, and in the larger science and policy communities. The reports offer the best, unbiased consensus advice on everything from the frontiers of space and Earth science research and the future of human spaceflight to cutting edge aeronautical research.

The American Astronomical Society, one of AIP's 10 member societies, awarded Moloney a special citation in 2011 for his leadership on the decadal survey "New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics." He is also a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, an AIP affiliated society, and in 2016 Moloney was inducted into the International Academy of Astronautics in recognition of his leadership in space policy.

Moloney's appointment ends the search for a successor for AIP's previous CEO, Robert G. W. Brown, who retired last May. Since then, AIP has been led by two interim co-CEOs, Catherine O'Riordan, who is also the Chief Operating Officer, and Catherine “Gigi” Swartz, who is the Chief Financial Officer. Both will reassume their prior officer roles in March.